


The Pride of the Vanyar

by heget



Series: Vanyar [3]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Cultural Differences, Gen, Short One Shot, world-building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:26:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26699767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heget/pseuds/heget
Summary: Anoldcollection of thoughts and world-building snapshots I wrote to compliment the essay:Klingon Promotions Among the Vanyar.
Series: Vanyar [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/84973
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

The banners of the Vanyar are white and pure; the banners of Ingwë King are unmarked, unblemished, untouched. 

The banners of Ingwë Vanya are the surface of his body when the blood of his fallen foe was washed away, and he stood with skin unbroken by his enemy’s weapon. 

* * *

When the elves go laughing into battle against the orcs, singing loudly _tra-la-laly_ and smiling bright, they learned this from the Vanyar, who with the spirit of golden-haired Tulkas delighted in the feeling of chasing down their foes, in mocking their enemies, the untouchable-ness of their strength, the arrogant tilt of their heads.

* * *

Eventually, Yavanna and Oromë beg, can something be done about the Vanyar’s tradition of a young man’s rite of passage to hunt a lion. The great cats of Valinor are suffering, and it seems quite unfair.

* * *

When Melkor lying first came to Valmar, said he had come to fix his wrongs, to make good his promises to the Valar to advise and teach, no Vanyar was interested to hear his words. What wisdom could be found in one so soundly defeated, so weak as to be cast down and wrestled to the dirt? A defeated foe had no right to brag of his skills, nor any glory to offer a listener.


	2. Zen

The Vanya scribe stares at the vellum under an outstretched hand, the long stroke of ink down the center of the page ready for mirrored sarati in precise lines. A long pause, a silence. What good is the beauty of the calligraphy if the words are not profound?

* * *

The calligraphy sits atop a stack of such sheets, the treelight catching on fragments of the gilded border. The Noldo brings the page up to read the lines of _sarati_ , the elegant craftsmanship for each stroke, the antiquated script chosen for the aesthetic. It is a passage mediating on time, contemplating the use of a day, and the Noldo admires the sentiment as deeply as the pleasure of the beauty of the page. But when asked for a purchase price, the Vanya waves it away as a free gift; the Noldo can have it if the object speaks so deeply to a desire. The scribe has no need for it.  
The purpose had been the hours of the careful act of writing it.


End file.
